Importance of not rushing a design
As much as I hate going back on past work, I feel that I have enough major changes to do a complete refresh of my original Mobile Crane model (animation below). The design isn’t anywhere near complete but I thought I would share some of the mental processes that go along with making things here at WoodMarvels.com.
This is a work undergoing heavy progress...
I have many ideas what I would like to implement in this refresh, one of the things that always bugged me about the original crane was that the arm couldn’t extend further, I found a solution to this and I think it’s rather innovative. Why extend when you can unfold!
The wheels are far more tough looking that the original, I am still playing with their placement and with their symmetry relative to the rest of the model, as you can see, a few things don’t match-up between the floor of the model, the sides and the axle holders.
I find the top part of the crane rather boring, will be working on something better that uses a paneling system instead. The front of the model needs a small hole somewhere so string can be attached to it, I already have a slight bumper there, so adding a few more details there should do the trick wonderfully.
The bed, which doubles as a storage area also needs to be made better, originally, I used thick wood but after converting the design to be laser cut (without the square dowel conversion), this whole area needs to be rethought to be more functional and cool looking.
I am also playing around with the idea of having support struts come out on both sides to help further stabilize the model when a child is trying to pick things up, I doubled-up the wheels in the back for this purpose as well as adding some extra weight. The top of the model with the folding arm won’t be light and I don’t want things to tip over.
Already, this refresh is slightly longer and wider than the original, overall, it’s coming together nicely and it will probably be a few more days until I have something closer to what I have in mind followed by at least a week of rendering the final assembly animation, making the laser cutting, assembly instructions and finally, releasing it out into the wild for children all around the world to enjoy.
Sometimes, I am able to design things within a few hours but other times, I know enough to stop and go do other things. These models, with all their interlocking parts which can all go to crap very fast, becoming very mentally taxing and taking a breather is a must in order to make something unique while giving your mind enough time to think of some nice little additions or design changes.
The major advantage of laser cut models is their precision, which is also their biggest drawback, ESPECIALLY when you are dealing with interlocking and moving parts!
Original Crane Assembly Animation:
The Bottom Line
Rushing a design isn’t a good idea when a lot of complexity is involved.